Someone Noticed What Was Placed in Front of the Bidens at DC Restaurant and People Think It's a Real Problem
Listen, in the grand scheme of things, there will be much worse, much more damning things to criticize the current President of the United States for.
In fact, there already is quite a bit to scorch Joe Biden with/for, from the general state of East Palestine, Ohio, to the ongoing price of groceries — and that doesn’t even include his international headaches.
Those are very serious allegations worth blasting Biden for, but there will be ample time to skewer the president over these issues from now until the 2024 general election (assuming Biden even opts to run for re-election.)
Today, though? Today is to question the proper couple etiquette and eating habits of the Bidens, both Joe and Jill.
The president and his wife, as they are wont to do, garnered all sorts of attention when the two were spotted out at dinner at a local Washington, D.C., Italian eatery, Red Hen (No, not that one) last month.
According to multiple outlets who felt compelled to cover this, such as People magazine and The Washington Post, the Biden’s ordered two glasses of wine, a chicory salad, fancy bread (“with cultured butter,” because heaven forbid they use regular butter) and two bowls of rigatoni with sausage.
It’s the pair of pasta bowls that apparently drew swift condemnation and critique from the internet.
And not for any contemporary new foodie trend du jour (the Bidens weren’t eating bugs, for example). No, the condemnation came on the Bidens for violating the unspoken rule that couples should get different entrees when dining out.
“Getting the same thing as the person you’re eating dinner with is silly,” one aggrieved Washington resident, Hannah Madden, told the Post. “The whole point of going out to eat is getting to try as many things as possible.”
Red Hen chef and owner Michael Friedman told the Post that he’s more amused by these vociferous takes on proper dining etiquette, and he didn’t appear particularly keen on taking a side.
“It’s such an honor to have a presidential visit, but it’s funny that this is what came out of it,” Friedman said. “It’s a fascinating thread people have chosen to follow, and I’m just really enjoying the banter.”
It’s the kind of banter that has swept up everyone, from (insert first name, then add a bunch of numbers) anonymous Twitter users, to legacy blue checkmarks and just about everyone in between on social media.
Here’s Bloomberg columnist and podcaster Matthew Yglesias approving of the choice of rigatoni, while noting that he could never order it if his wife did:
The rigatoni is the best, but my wife and I could never just both order it. https://t.co/Dkz5wvi6NX
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 19, 2023
“The rigatoni is the best, but my wife and I could never just both order it,” he said.
Here’s the food editor for the Washingtonian, Jessica Sidman, offering her two cents:
There are 2 types of couples in this world: those who order the same dish at a restaurant and those who would never ever dare… I would definitely glare at my husband if he ordered the same thing as me because obviously we need to try as much of the menu as possible! https://t.co/35KbHafvXh
— Jessica Sidman (@jsidman) February 19, 2023
“There are 2 types of couples in this world: those who order the same dish at a restaurant and those who would never ever dare… I would definitely glare at my husband if he ordered the same thing as me because obviously we need to try as much of the menu as possible!” Sidman tweeted out.
On the other side of the aisle, The New Republic reporter Grace Segers thinks this is no big deal at all, and, in fact, claims that she didn’t even know this was an issue to begin with:
Now here’s some discourse I didn’t even know existed. Of course you can order the same thing as someone else in your party at a restaurant! If you’re spending money for a meal, you should order what you want. I don’t get why this is a thing.https://t.co/3NiC7l35Is
— Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) February 28, 2023
“Now here’s some discourse I didn’t even know existed. Of course you can order the same thing as someone else in your party at a restaurant! If you’re spending money for a meal, you should order what you want. I don’t get why this is a thing,” Segers wrote.
Noted far-left journalist Aaron Rupar thought so little of this critique that he joked it was a “new article of impeachment.”
new article of impeachment just dropped https://t.co/x4yPs88ec3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 1, 2023
As for this writer, I have nary given a second thought to this “controversy” (I asked my wife of 14 years what she thought about this controversy, and she succinctly described it as “stupid.”)
Sure, it’s fun to poke fun at the Bidens and their general absurdity. And, to be sure, there is a time and place to make fun of them.
But when there is so much real-life pain going on, it actually puts me in the uncomfortable position of actually having to defend the Bidens when it comes to this asinine critique of their eating habits.
Frankly, given that there is so much to actually lambaste Biden for, it’s pretty obvious what this hideously manufactured controversy actually is: a feeble attempt from the left to “soften” well-deserved criticisms and vitriol that should be aimed at the president.
So whether or not you think a married couple getting the same dish is the culinary faux pas that it’s being made out to be, don’t let it distract you from the real problems that the Bidens represent.
It’s exactly what the left wants.
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